Voice of the people (letter).

The Evans Verdict

PLAINFIELD — I was disappointed Monday night to see a relative of Ald. Jesse Evans (21st) suggesting on TV that Evans did not receive a fair trial because the jury did not have any black members.

To suggest that the people who served on Evans' jury would have come up with a different verdict if they had been black is shamefully disrespectful of the jury system, the jurors in that case and all people who make the personal sacrifice to sit in judgment of their peers.

What's more, such a notion--that a black juror is more likely to acquit a black defendant, or a white juror a white defendant, etc., just because of race-based empathy and despite whatever evidence is presented--is, in a larger sense, as racist as what Evans' relative suggested happened. And in this case, the evidence seemed overwhelming, given a videotape of Evans openly accepting cash from an undercover FBI agent. It seems to me the only color that mattered here was green.

But with human nature being what it is, and recognizing that the average layperson sometimes doesn't have the expertise to fully grasp the amazingly complex layers of the law, sometimes juries do seem to forgo their sworn obligation to fully consider a case on its merits. Sometimes jurors may feel some connection to the defendant, because of race, gender or something else. That's not necessarily a bad thing. That kind of bond often helps jurors sift through the smoke-and-mirror tactics sometimes used by prosecutors trying an especially weak case.

So jurors can sometimes "cheat" the system by allowing their humanity to interfere with their reason. But that doesn't come remotely close to the suggestion that a juror of one race or another is more likely to outright ignore the law, the evidence and the weight of the legal system--despite his or her personal oath before God to uphold those very concerns-- just because the defendant looks like him or her. That notion is unfair to the system and ultimately only fosters the kind of racism that threatens to continue to keep people separate and unequal.